I. Since China was so far away from Europe many of the European Embassies and areas of minority European populations became so-called “safe zones” from Japanese assault. Other than these random “safe zone” policies, Japan had open reign on the people of China. This is no better exemplified by the Rape of Nanking, in which an estimated 300,000 civilians were massacred over the space of 2 weeks. The Japanese soldiers, raped, murdered, and looted their way through Nanking and left only the safe zones of the city relatively untouched. Nazi Party member John Rabe was so appalled by the actions of the Japanese that he wrote to the German Capitol to sever all affiliations with the Japanese because he believed their style of war to be detrimental to the overall German front.
II. The entire Kwantung Army division of the Imperial Japanese Army was in charge of the efforts in Manchuria and main China. Of the 5.5 million soldiers in the whole Imperial Japanese Army, about 1.3 million were in the Kwantung Army Division based in Manchuria. This was the division of the army that went through China, wreaking havoc and causing despair wherever they went. Soldiers in the Army had very high moral, because they encountered little to no resistance in their conquest of China, and were allowed to rape and loot as much as they pleased. Many soldiers even had competitions to see who could kill more Chinese. However, in contrast to the increasing moral among the general ranks of the Imperial Japanese Army, many of the high-ranking officials saw this as a worrying sign. They initially boasted at the sheer numbers of Chinese being slaughtered, then they became wise to the fact that it was turning all of the other countries in the world against them, even their allies. Furthermore, many of them worried that they would not be able to control their soldiers when they returned because they feared they would be to used to the style of life in occupied China. Because the Japanese soldiers treated the Chinese people as sub-humans, many of the officials feared that they would not be able to contain their new taste of violence upon their return home.
III. Japanese Occupation of China saw the relationship between the citizens of China and the government of China change forever. Due to Japanese occupation the Chinese Government was forced to classify its citizens so that the Japanese could more efficiently document them for their war effort. This form of collaboration provided the base for the Maoist government after the war, because Mao’s government began to classify its own people so that they could further the Cultural Revolution. They assigned titles such as “Educated Youth” and Red Guard” to influence the people of china to classify themselves, and this all can be traced back to the collaboration with the occupying Japanese during World War II. At the same time as the governmental collaboration there was also a huge resentment towards the Japanese powers. Most of this stemmed from the Rape of Nanking, and it manifested itself in the provinces of Sichuan, the basis for the Chinese Rebellion movement. Nationalist party members headed the rebellion, and it was not as extensive or well organized as the French Resistance (which is saying something), yet was able to drive much of the post-war Chinese government as many of the rebellion leaders went on to become high ranking government officials. Chiang Kai-shek was the prominent Nationalist rebellion leader who went on to be the Leader of China before Mao.
IV. The Rape of Nanking, which happened early on in the occupation of China, characterized the occupation of China for many women and children. The Japanese soldiers did not discriminate between young or old in their treatment of the Chinese, and nobody was safe. There was a feeling of hopelessness, because the Japanese could enter your home and do whatever they liked without reproach. Women and Children lived constantly in fear after all of the stories flowed out of Nanking. Young women and young girls were especially targeted in Nanking, and many families went out of their way to hide the women and children. Furthermore, within the safe zones of China women were still only partly safe. They could not be alone, they always had to be with a man who had his identification. Children were not allowed out at all. After the war this caused the level of female interaction in the nation to decrease, because the repurcussions of the inquisition upon women and children rendered them almost incapable of going out for their fear was too great. Many of them feared so fervently for their lives that they still refused to be active citizens almost 20 years after the Japanese left.
Sources: Dorn, Frank (1974).The Sino-Japanese War, 1937-41: From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor. MacMillan. Chang, Iris.The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. New York, NY: Basic, 1997. Print. Classifying Citizens in Nationalist China during World War II, 1937–1941 RANA MITTER Modern Asian Studies , Vol. 45, No. 2, China in World War II, 1937–1945: Experience, Memory, and Legacy (MARCH 2011), pp. 243-275
Sources:
Dorn, Frank (1974). The Sino-Japanese War, 1937-41: From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor. MacMillan.
Chang, Iris. The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. New York, NY: Basic, 1997. Print.
Classifying Citizens in Nationalist China during World War II, 1937–1941
RANA MITTER
Modern Asian Studies , Vol. 45, No. 2, China in World War II, 1937–1945: Experience, Memory, and Legacy (MARCH 2011), pp. 243-275